Real Name: Billy (last name unrevealed)

Identity/Class: Human mutate

Occupation: Insatiable carnivore and cannibal

Group Membership: None

Affiliations: None

Enemies: Daisy, Esmeralda, Hulk (Robert Bruce Banner), Mrs. Toynbee, unidentified drifter

Known Relatives: Donny (brother), Marie (sister), unidentified father, unidentified mother

Aliases: None

Base of Operations: Somewhere in the Adirondack Mountains, New York state, USA

First Appearance: Incredible Hulk II#222 (April, 1978)

Powers/Abilities: Billy's physical and mental development had somehow been accelerated by radioactive waste -- although chronologically still a toddler, his mutation eventually made him larger than the Hulk, and he was incredibly strong; he was also very intelligent in spite of his chronological age.

   The carnivorous Billy enjoyed fresh meat -- having developed a taste for human flesh, he also indulged in cannibalism.

   Although he seemed to be incapable of speech, Billy's older brother and sister were able to understand him (see comments).

Height: Unrevealed (8'; by approximation)
Weight: Unrevealed
Eyes: Red pupils/irises, yellow sclera
Hair: Bald (previously brown)

History:
(Incredible Hulk II#222 (fb)) - The infant Billy and his family (father, mother, Donny, Marie; last names unrevealed) lived on a farm somewhere in New York state. When Billy was less than a year old, his family took him on a picnic -- while nobody was watching him, Billy crawled away on all fours and drank a liquid that was leaking from a container of radioactive waste (see comments). Soon afterward, a pair of men in protective suits carefully picked up the container, and an ambulance took little Billy to the hospital.

(Incredible Hul II#222 (fb) - BTS) - Billy was hospitalized for several weeks, because the radioactive waste began to mutate him; the doctors told his heart-broken parents that little Billy would never be normal again.

   Billy's body and mind developed at an accelerated rate, and his skin turned a dark blue.

(Incredible Hulk II#222 (fb)) - When Billy was released from the hospital and transported back home, his family was startled by the changes in him -- the blue-skinned "baby" could walk on his own, and he was now larger than his older brother and sister.

(Incredible Hulk II#222 (fb) - BTS) - Billy continued to grow and mature -- in an incredibly brief time, he soon reached the size of an adult. One night, Billy killed and ate half of Esmeralda, one of the cows on his family's farm; sometime afterwards, Billy killed and ate neighbor Mrs. Toynbee's prize bull.

(Incredible Hulk II#222 (fb)) - The townsfolk figured the killings were done by some wild animal, so they began to put up barbed wire fences and set bear-traps.

   When the remains of a nameless drifter were discovered near the family's farm three weeks later, people began leaving town -- Billy's father seemed to suspect that Billy was responsible for the homeless man's death.

   The following evening, Billy killed Daisy, the family dog -- while he was playing with its dead body parts in the barn, Billy was spotted by his father. Afterwards, Billy's parents had a long discussion about their peculiar child -- they probably realized that he was dangerous and had to be confined.

(Incredible Hulk II#222 (fb) - BTS) - But later that night, Billy apparently killed his father and mother and ate them -- he had probably figured out what they were planning to do with him.

(Incredible Hulk II#222 (fb)) - The next morning, Billy convinced the naively-innocent Donny and Marie that their parents had gone away and they wouldn't be coming back anymore; but since he was now the biggest, Billy promised his two older siblings that he would take care of them from now on -- at this point, Billy was larger and stronger than a normal man. That evening, when the sheriff came out to the farm to check on the family, Billy and his siblings hid from him (Donny and Marie believed that they were just playing Hide-'n'-Seek).

   The next morning, Billy convinced his brother and sister to leave home and go away with him. They went to live deep in the Adirondack Mountains, where Donny and Marie slept in a small ramshackle cabin outside a cave, and Billy lived inside the cave, which he furnished with a handmade oversized cot for himself, and a large cauldron to cook his meals.

   Billy took care of his brother and sister and found food for them to eat (see comments), and Donny and Marie found "friends" for Billy to "play" with while they were sleeping (i.e. Billy loved to have "friends" for dinner).

(Incredible Hulk II#222) - The Hulk was wandering around the country-side of New York state, where he was attacked by a battalion of soldiers; the jade giant fought his way past them, but he was hit with an anesthetic gas grenade just before he leapt away. At the apex of his half-mile leap, the Hulk dropped to the ground, unconscious.

   Donny and Marie happened upon the the unconscious Hulk and summoned Billy, because they found another friend for him.

(Incredible Hulk II#222 - BTS) - Billy dragged the unconscious Hulk back to his cave (see comments) and placed him on his oversized cot; while sleeping, the Hulk transformed back into Bruce Banner.

(Incredible Hulk II#222) - Concealed in the shadows of the cave, Billy watched as Donny and Marie talked to Banner after he woke up. The children told him their story about Billy, and as he glanced around the cave, Banner was horrified when he saw what appeared to be an accumulation of human bones surrounding a cauldron! When Billy got hungry, he sounded a gong, the signal for his siblings to leave the cave and go to sleep.

   After Donny and Marie left, Billy came out of the shadows and tried to grab Banner; but his own fear caused Banner to transform back into the Hulk. A fight began between the two behemoths, and although Billy made some headway against the Hulk, their powerful blows caused the ceiling of the cave to collapse.

   The noise of the battle awakened Donny and Marie, and they went back to find the cave entrance buried in rubble. Moments later, only the Hulk had the strength to smash his way out through the rocks. The two children asked the Hulk why their little brother Billy wasn't with him; the simple-minded Hulk responded that there was no Billy in the cave, but "only ugly monster," who was now gone forever. As he turned to leave, the Hulk told Donny and Marie that if there was a Billy in the cave, he was gone, too -- the jade giant added that he believed that Billy had been lost a very long time ago...

Comments: Created by Len Wein, Jim Starlin and Alfredo Alcala.

What kind of food did Billy give to his siblings? Gosh!

Inside Billy's cave, there was what appeared to be a bear-skin hanging on a wall, so maybe he fed them wild game he hunted in the area, while he saved his "friends" for himself.
--Ron Fredricks

Donny and Marie said that Billy talked to them about their parents and about hiding themselves, but when Billy fought the Hulk, he only "spoke" with bestial grunts.

I'm guessing that Billy's mutation also gave him a telepathic rapport with his two older siblings, which explains how he communicated with them.

When the soldiers inspected the area where the unconscious Hulk fell and got dragged away by Billy, they saw large footprints with only two toes; yet in any panel where Billy's feet were visible, he has five toes on each foot. I'm assuming this was just a mistake... unless maybe Billy, Donny, and Marie had a cousin with a similar condition to Billy's.

This creepy Hulk story reminded me of old horror movies like It's Alive! and C.H.U.D.

But the unresolved ending of this story bothers me -- with Billy seemingly dead, whatever happened to Donny and Marie? Maybe the soldiers later found them and put the two kids into foster care.

And I wonder what the back-story was with the container of radioactive waste.
--Ron Fredricks

    I see nothing that confirms Billy as being dead...not that that would matter anyway...
    Also, I wonder if their family's last name was Osmond? (see clarifications)
--Snood

New and additional images by Ron Fredricks.

Profile by Spidermay. Expansion by Ron Fredricks.

CLARIFICATIONS:
The monstrous Billy should not be confused with:

Donny and Marie should not be confused with:

Billy's family

An unidentified husband and wife lived on a farm near the Adirondack Mountains of New York state, where they raised cows, pigs, and chickens. The married couple had three children: Donny and Marie (probably fraternal twins, perhaps five years old), and the infant Billy.

But their lives were changed after little Billy drank some radioactive waste and had to be hospitalized; the radioactivity began to mutate the baby into a monster.

Weeks later, when Billy was returned home to his family, he was much larger and more developed than his former infant self, and his skin had turned a dark blue. Although his parents were understandably uneasy about Billy's physical condition, Donny and Marie were more accepting of him because Billy was only... different, and shy. Although their parents tried to pretend things were the same afterward, Donny and Marie knew better because of the way they reacted.

Billy's mutation caused him to continue to develop at an accelerated rate, and he was soon the size of an adult. He began killing and eating some farm animals, and even a nameless drifter fell prey to him.

One evening, after learning the truth of their peculiar son's eating habits, Billy's parents had a long discussion about what to do with him; but later that night, they were both killed by Billy, too.

The next morning, Donny and Marie naively followed Billy to the Adirondack Mountains, where the two children lived in a ramshackle cabin, while Billy lived inside a nearby cave. Billy took care of Donny and Marie, and they found "friends" for Billy to "play" with -- the two children didn't seem to be concerned about the human skulls and the bones accumulating near the big cauldron in Billy's cave.

One day, Donny and Marie saw the Hulk while he was trying to avoid the U.S. Army -- noticing the size of the jade giant, they thought that he might be a perfect "friend" for Billy. After the Hulk collapsed from anesthetic gas, Marie called Billy, and Billy dragged the Hulk to his cave.

Afterward, the children were surprised that the big green friend for Billy had transformed into "a skinny little guy": Bruce Banner (Donny: "Boy, Billy is sure gonna be mad about this!"); but they took a liking to Banner and told him their story about Billy. However, Donny and Marie heard the sound of a gong, which was Billy's signal for them to go to bed while he "played" with his friend; the two said their goodbyes and exited the cave, leaving Banner alone.

Later, Donny and Marie were awakened by the sounds of the fierce battle between Billy and the Hulk, which caused the cave to collapse. When only the Hulk came smashing out of the barrier of rocks, the children asked him where there little brother Billy was; before he walked away, the Hulk replied that there was no "Billy" in the cave, "...only ugly monster," and that the monster was now gone forever.

The ultimate fate of Donny and Marie is unrevealed (see comments).

--Incredible Hulk I#222

images: (without ads)
Incredible Hulk II#222, p14, pan1 (main image - Billy [right] vs Hulk)
Incredible Hulk II#222, p16, pan1 (headshot - Billy)
Incredible Hulk II#222, p10, pan1 (in flashback, infant Billy drinks radioactive waste; Billy's father and mother [background])
Incredible Hulk II#222, p17, pan4 (Billy, startled as cave begins to collapse; Hulk [foreground])
Incredible Hulk II#222, p6, pan4 (soldiers see two-toed tracks where Hulk was dragged away)
Incredible Hulk II#222, p7, pan5 (Marie and Donny introduce themselves to Bruce Banner)
Incredible Hulk II#222, p9, pan7-8 (Donny and Marie tell Banner about their family)
Incredible Hulk II#222, p10, pan7 (father, mother, Donny, and Marie react when mutated Billy [foreground] comes home from hospital)
Incredible Hulk II#222, p9, pan1 (Marie and Donny [background];  Bruce Banner sees cauldron in Billy's cave)

Appearances:
Incredible Hulk II#222 (April, 1978) - Len Wein (script/editor), Jim Starlin (plot/layouts), Alfredo Alcala (finished art/inks), Glynis Oliver (colors), Gaspar Saladino (letters)

First posted: 04/6/2005
Last updated: 03/02/2026

Any Additions/Corrections? please let me know.

Non-Marvel Copyright info
All other characters mentioned or pictured are ™ and © 1941-2099 Marvel Characters, Inc. All Rights Reserved. If you like this stuff, you should check out the real thing!
Please visit The Marvel Official Site at: http://www.marvel.com

Special Thanks to www.g-mart.com for hosting the Appendix, Master List, etc.!

Back to Characters